The Entrepreneurial Minorities of Pakistan

PRESENTED TO: Sir Iqbal.M.Khan

PRESENTED BY: Madeeha Sundas Rana
Mohammed Ali Javaid
Naveeda Ilyas
Rafia Ahsan
Saad Tariq Bukhari
Sarah Nadeem
Sheraz Naseer
Umer Nisar

ABSTRACT

Key words;

INTRODUCTION

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE MEMON COMMUNITY

The Memon Community are one of the many widely dispersed peoples of Asia across the globe.
The total Memon population across the world is estimated to approximately over 1 Million with
the vast majority located in the Indian subcontinent. The breakdown is as follows:

India - 550,000

Pakistan - 415,000

South Africa - 25,000

United Kingdom - 22,000

Sri Lanka - 6,000

Burma = 5,000

Bangladesh = 3,000

There has been some controversy as to the veracity of various versions of memons history. There
have been attempts by many a historian to lend unnecessary scholarly elaboration and colour to
the debut of our modest, magnanimous and religiously adherent society. The research is
undoubtedly very thorough and verifiable, So much so, that it becomes so complex and awkward
for the layman. The reason for the investigation is undoubtly to establish the fact that the advent
of Memons was much earlier than the date propounded. However, this merely aids to confuse
and obscure the whole issue by the introduction of the Bohras, the Khojas, varieties of Ismailis,

the Ishnasaries, the Shias and the whole issue of the propagation of Islam into the sub-continent
of

Indo-Pakistan,

tracing

it

to

Muhammad

Bin

Quassim.

The version that this community of Memons might have originated around the year 1422 C.E at
a place called Nagar Thatta, then a capital, in the province of southern Sindh, then in India and
now in Pakistan, has been widely accepted. It seems such a modest claim without a great deal of
a do and glorification. Even if it is sucked from the thumb, the passage of time has lent it a
degree of authenticity, despite its record of somewhat dubitable and questionable origin. The
converts were first called Momins or Mumins and the term, with the march of time, changed to
Memons. This is revealed in a book entitled 'Abraazul Hq' by Sayed Ameeruddin Nuzat, under
the guidance of one Peer Buzrug Alli, published in Bombay in 1873. The story related therein
states that some 700 Lohana families, (inclusive, perhaps of some earlier covert and neo-Muslim
converts) comprising of some 6178 individuals, accepted Islam at the hands one Sayed
Yusuffuddin Quadri R.A. and finding themselves banished by their erstwhile Hindu brothers
were forced to migrate. This version persisted over decades, so much so that it was reiterated by
one Hussain Cassim Dada from his Presidential Chail at the first ever All India Memon
Conference in Rajkot in the year 1931, and is in vogue even to this day.
What lends authenticity to this version is the extreme faith of the Memons in the Peers and
Aulias, as a matter of gratitude, for their conversions to Islam. Particularly to Sheikh Abdul
Kader Jilani R.A., whom they refer to as peran-e-Peer Dastagir, Gausal-e-Azam, Vado Peer and
Gaus

Paak

as

mark

of

respect

and

reverence.

Another aspect that adds plausibility to this origin is the fact that the Memons are per se a
merchant class in line with their ancestors, the Lohanas, a Hindu sect confined to business.
The origin may or may not be so significant, but what is extraordinary is that it is a peculiar

brotherhood that has defied extinction. It has suffered ravages of war to the point of catastrophe.
It has been forced to migrate under circumstances of a holocaust. It has lived, survived and
prospered

in

adverse

circumstances

of

hostile

fanatics

of

different

religions.

Memons are not a nation. At best they are a tribe, a nomadic tribe at that. They have no land or
country that they can call exclusively their own. Nor do they have an aspiration for such. They
have no king, crown, flag, anthem or a leader to whom all and sundry swear allegiance. There
was a time when the size of the bank balance of the Balance Sheet determined the leadership.
Now with proliferation of wealth and the far-flung settlements of the Memons, the need for a
leadership

is

of

little

consequence.

Having fled Sindh, they settled in Okha Bundar and then proceeded to Kutch. From there to
Kathiawar, where they were stationed for quite a period of time. With the advent of the partition
of the sub-continent of Indo-Pakistan, the base was shifted to Karachi, Pakistan.
Their arrival and stay in the Republic of South Africa is well documented in the text itself. I am
sure that my effort in exploring this history will be of some importance to the people concerned.
There are actually huge colonies of Memons in the United Kingdom, United States, the Latin
American countries, and all over Europe, especially Portugal. Isolated Pockets live in the various
islands all over the world. In India there are large numbers in Mumbai (Bombay) and in the
South, especially in Hyderabad, Madras, and Madurai; there are scattered colonies over the rest
of India and in Bangladesh also there is a sizeable colony. The largest concentration is of course
in dear old Pakistan, nowadays the hub of Memon brotherhood. It is a fact of history that the
Memons contributed the hilt in the creation and establishment of Pakistan. In the year 1940 when
Pakistan was first mooted Memons came out in open and full support of Qua'ede Azam
Mohamed Ali Jinnah and the Muslim League. They gave blank cheques in support of the cause.

The price they had to pay for this was a catastrophe in the form of holocaust unprecedented in
the history of mankind. The village of Kutiyana was well near destroyed from the face of the
earth,

in

so

far

as

the

Memon

community

was

concerned.

Another aspect I wish to dwell on is that Memons are never averse to inter-communal marriages,
as long as these are between a Muslim and Muslim, since a Nikah between a Muslim and a nonMuslim is invalid. Polygamy is permissible in Islam, but under very stringent conditions and
only then could people opt for diversity
TRAITS AND CHARACTERISTICS:
The Memon community is always admired and respected for their distinct traits:

business acumen
enterprising spirit
philanthropic activities
honesty
dexterity and
good mannerism.

CULTURE
1. LANGUAGE
Before partition of the sub-continent, the community was using Gujrati as a mean of
internal written communication. This was being done unconsciously and under the
influence of prevailing atmosphere including the then province of their domicile. The
level of education within the community was very low and in most cases education upto
primary or secondary level with Gujrati as a Medium of Instructions was considered
enough. No wonder then that Gujrati became the language of the communitys written
communication.

With migration of the majority of community to Pakistan, the situation has changed. In
Pakistan Urdu is not only the National language of the country but also lingua franca of
the entire population. The level of education within the community has also improved
tremendously. The Medium of Instructions is mostly Urdu and in some cases English.
There are hardly any Gujrati medium schools in Pakistan and therefore the communitys
young generation can neither read nor write in Gujrati. This is not all. In most of the
families, specially the educated families, Urdu has been adopted as mean of oral
communication within their homes as well. A number of young men and women cannot
speak Memoni with fluency. The same should be true for some families in India and most
families who have settled outside India and Pakistan. To attract the new generation
towards Memoni, they encourage the habit of speaking Memoni at homes.
They take pride in their language and are trying their best to convert it from a boli to full
fledge language.
2. SOCIAL ACTIVITY
It has a unique system of Jamats for the welfare of community and for preserving social
relationship between the members of the Jamats. As long as the community was confined
to a certain part of pre-partition India, there was no problem of its identity. With partition
of India a large part of community migrated to Pakistan where it is no longer confined to
small geographical areas as in pre-partitioned India but have taken up residence in large
cosmopolitan cities like Karachi and Hyderabad. In India the remaining members of the
community however still live in their ancestral villages & towns in Katch and Kathiawar.
With the increased communication facilities the world has shrunk to the status of a global
village. Being part of this global village, the community has also crossed national
boundaries and now we can see members of our community in almost every part of
world. A large number of them can be found in Middle East, Africa, U.K. and United

State of America. It has now become an international community. In their new countries
of residence, they have been successful in maintaining their identity as a group and have
formed Jamats, Societies and Associations to provide an opportunity to members of the
community for interaction and take collective care of their problems in their new
homelands.
The new homelands of the members of the community are distant from their ancestral
birth places. In new homelands, they have the opportunities and compulsions of
intermingling with other communities, gradually distancing them from their ancestral
traits and qualities
3. RELIGION
The Lohana Theory on the origin of the Memon community states that they were
originally from the Hindu Merchant Community of Lohana's living in the Sind who were
converted to Islam sometime circa 1423 in the early part of the fifteenth century. The
story goes on to say that the conversion was carried out by a Muslim Saint and the
community was given the name "Moomin", which means "believer" in Arabic, which
then has evolved into the present day "Memon" name. No doubt this theory has many
varied versions attached to it based on the fact that the community never kept written
records gf their history and culture during those times. Most of the versions of the
varying stories wee passed down from generation to generation through oral
communication imbibed with folklore for more spice and passion.
The Encyclopedia of Islam, a well known work on Islam and Muslim Communities
across the globe published in London, states that the Memons are a trading community of
Gujarat who claim to have embraced the religion of Islam around the 12th Century. They

are said to have been converted to Islam from the trading Lohana and Kutch Bania castes
living in Sind and Kutch either by a son or a descendant of the famous saint Abdul Qadir
Jailani (Vol VI.1990).

MEMONS IN PROFESSIONS
Today Memons can boast of thousands of professionals in law, medicine, professional
accountancy, Information Technology, Engineering, Architecture and Teaching. The Memon
Professional Forum the organizer of this conference is a body of these professionals. Most of
these professionals have excelled in their professions and are known through out the country.
Many are practicing their professions and others are occupying senior positions in business,
industry and banking.

Mr. Kasim Parekh, now President of Metropolitan Bank was once Governor of State Bank of
Pakistan. Dr. A. Ghaffar Billoo was the dean of Medicine in Karachi University. Dr. A. Majeed
Memon was the principle of Dow Medical College. Mr. Janmohammad Memon is the first Vice
Chancellor of Sindhs first Medical University. Many of our professional brothers have served as
judges of superior courts. Others occupied senior positions in Bar Associations, Income Tax Bar
Association, Institute of Engineers & Institute of Professional Accountants. Prominent among
them are Mr. Yusuf Adil, Mr. Abdul Qadir Memon, Mr. A. Razzak Diwan and Mr. Abdul Wahid
Tejani. Today, the professional institutions of Chartered Accountants & Cost & Management
Accountants of Pakistan are headed by Mr. Pirmohammad Kalia and Mr. Ashraf Bawany. Mr.
Pirmohammad Kalia is also President of Institute of Corporate Secretaries and South Asian

Federation of Accountants. Mr. Moin A. Fudda, a Memon Professional is now heading Overseas
Chamber of Commerce

1st INTERVIEW
The first interview conducted was with Mr.Irfan who deals in clothes. He is running his
business with the name of M-I corporation which deals in wholesale, retail and export of
goods to Dubai. Few years before starting his business,Mr.Irfan had a manufacturing firm
in Faisalabad but now he purchases directly from the factories in Karachi and Faisalabad
and then sells to retailers and final consumers. It was self motivation which led him to
start his own business 15 years ago.According to Mr.Irfan,no one forced him to start this
business related to clothes, but he selected this business because it related to the sunnat
of Prophet Mohammed(P.B.U.H).He has spent approximately 15 years in his business.He
himself was the founder of his business and did not carry the business of his parents.M-I
is a sole proprietor business which deals in retailing and wholesaling.
According to him,dealing in clothes is a good business and it is sunat. Pakistan is also an
agricultural country with cotton in abundance and high export potential.
Mr.Irfan had his own manufacturing unit in Karachi before entering into business but due
to some reasons he had to close his manufacturing unit and now he is a wholesaler and a
retailer.The profitability of his business is also increasing as he started with a small
capital but now the capital of his business is increasing.M-I corporation has no branches.
As Mr.Irfan founded his business on his own he is classified as a first generation
entrepreneur.According to him,the new generation is doing their business by getting loans
from the bank on interest and this is not good as this is war against Allah and no one can
successful by this way.Mr.Irfan also points out a weakness about his family which is that
they cannot get up early in the morning,before 12p.m which is against the sunat of doing

business early in the morning.The other weakness is that their Urdu is not fluent because
their mother language is mamni.
Talking about the culture and heritage of the Memon community,Mr.Irfan adds that the
Memons were initially Hindus who converted to Islam centuries ago.The Memons at that
time demanded three things from their GOD.
Money
Beauty
Brain
The Memons usually get married in their families and dislike getting married out of
family.The philosophy of business is to keep low profit margin but high volume or high
turnover.The Memons help each other within their family as well as outside. They get
together very quickly when they find any memon in trouble. They are soft hearted. They
dont cheat others.The Memons can be easily identified by the way they speak. Otherwise
they do not have any difference in dress and appearance and look like other people of
Karachi.They only maintain their cultural identity in language.The available finances
determines the choice of business while honesty and truth is the key success to their
businesses.In the end Mr.Irfan also said that if he would get a chance to change his line of
business,he would prefer to do the business of a property dealer.

2nd INTERVIEW
The second Memon family which was interviewed belongs from Karachi.Mr.Rashid Abdul
Rahim Choksi, who is a Memon ,is the owner of Tawakkal Traders.The line of business pertains

to Cloth and Garments.Mr Rashid is engaged in the retail supply of garments from shop to shop
as well as the wholesale of local and imported cloth.The business was established in 1988 by
Arshad Dumba,uncle of Mr.Rashid.Mr.Rashid joined the business after doing his marticulation
and has been associated with the business ever since.They have three branches in Lahore,Karachi
and China but no factories.The role model and inspiration for coming into business was the
father of Arshad Dumba,who was the maternal grand father of Mr.Rashid.In the initial years they
only dealt in the retail supply of clothes.However the business has progressed over the years and
currently they are also engaged in the wholesale and import of cloth.Since Mr.Rashid is the
grand son of the founder of the business,this suggests that this is their third generation in the
business.According to Mr.Rashid his family has no drawbacks and no weaknesses or negatives
has come into light.
The growth of entrepreneurship has experienced different stages of development.A fisrt
generation entrepreneur may be classified as one who starts an industrial unit by means of an
innovative skill.He is essentially an innovater,combines different technologies to produce a
marketable product and has no entrepreneurial background in his family.A modern or second
generation entrepreneur is one who undertakes those ventures which go well along with the
changing demand in the market.They undertake those ventures which suits the current market
needs.Mr Rashid is a second generation entrepreneur.The interview thus conducted not only
portrays the entrepreneurial characteristics of the Memons,but also proves to be helpful in
describing the cultural background and traditions predominant in the Memon community.
As told by Mr.Rashid the Memons orginally belonged from India and migrated to Pakistan.They
are concentrated in Karachi as it is the centre of business in Pakistan as well as the proximity of
a sea port.The Memons are very conscious about their self-respect and most of them prefer to

engage in Business activities.Other distinctive features of this community include

honesty,fullfillment of each and every committment made by them,and an in-built desire to
progress more and more through hardwork and dedication.The Memons always stay
united,which may be considered the greatest strength of this community.Even though Mr.Rashid
inherited his business from his uncle,he realizes the importance of being an entrepreneur and
how his activities can lead to a sustaining growth in the economy through the creation of new
ventures and employment.
Mr.Rashid also signifies that his business is facing intense competition and he needs to
continously employ innovative strategies which are essential for the survival of his business.His
ancestors were also successful businessmen and this proves that the Memon community does
posses entrepreneurial traits.Most Memons who have engaged in business activities have been
successful.According to Mr.Rashid a memon has the ability to start from scratch and end up
building forts.The Memons are also honest with whoever they deal be it customers,suppliers or
stake holders.According to Mr.Rashid the preferred choice of business of any Memon is
trade.Though he doesnot find any weakness within his community,one thing which disturbs him
is that the younger generation of the Memons are getting more and more involved in the new
world and as a result are slowly and gradually diverting from their culture and heritage.The
Memons are still very co-operative with each other and are always willing to help members of
their community.